Her Ivory Tower
by RachelleMyBell
Summary: Edward Cullen is in love with his bestfriend & roomate Bella Swan. Bella is an out spoken girl with issue's. What lengths will Edward go to, to break down the walls Bella has built? A/H OOC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: If you couldn't already guess I don't own it.**

**AN: This is my first go at writing anything so please be gentle. Big thanks to Lynyrd Lionheart who beta'd this and for her overall support she was my first author's alert and I heart her BIG time!! Also want to say thanks to LittleMissInnocence who pre-read she's super awesome too! If they are the only two who reads my crap i'll be happy!**

Her Ivory Tower

Chapter 1

"Fuck Cullen how is it that you have a king size bed and I still end up on the damn floor when I wake up?" Damn does she have to yell so loud? I feel like penguins have been tap dancing on my eyeballs all night. I guess that's what I get for trying to go shot for shot against Bella. I don't know how a woman that tiny can hold that much alcohol. It just goes against nature. I groaned and looked over my bed to see Bella sprawled out on my floor looking severely pissed.

"I don't know Swan maybe if you didn't sleep like a fucking hippo taking up my entire bed I wouldn't have to kick your ass out of it in the morning." I was met with a grunt from Bella and a pillow to the face.

"You better get up sunshine your sister has been calling your phone for the last half hour. I believe you were supposed to meet the family for brunch today at eleven-thirty. You're about an hour late and I suspect the tiny tornado to roll in here any minute to beat your ass."

Every third Sunday of the month Alice put together brunch for the family. I normally didn't mind going but I just wasn't in the mood today. My hangover was bad enough without having to deal with my family issues too. I looked up to see Bella walking out of my room wearing nothing but a tank top, her scrumptious ass just peeking out. I know it might seem weird for Bella to be in my room wearing very little, but I can honestly say that we were nothing but friends. No matter how hard I've tried to make it something different.

I decided that a cold shower would do me a world of good. After I got out of my shower it was already one and brunch would be over by now so I decided to get ready and to head to the club to get some work done. I would incur the wrath of Alice later but I was used to it so I tried to convince myself she's only a _little_ scary, but I know that's a lie. She's actually a lot scary for being 5'1 and a buck ten at most. I just figure I can give her my famous smile or buy her something nice. The latter was probably the best idea so I'd have to head to Nieman Marcus on my way to work. As I was heading over to my closet to get dressed I felt a gust of cold air as I turned around I saw Alice busting through my door.

"Edward Anthony Cullen....Oh my god my eyes! My eyes! Hurry someone get the bleach....oh please god I'll forego fashion week this year just please take the pain away...."

"Whoa, Alice, what the hell?" Just as I was going to put my towel on, Bella ran through my door to see what Alice was screaming about. Now normally I wouldn't care if Bella just ran into my room when I was naked because, well, I have nothing to be ashamed of, and she's probably seen my junk more times than I could fucking count. Just the hazards of being roommates. I'd like to blame it on us having copious amounts of sex on every surface of our apartment, but alas that was just in my dreams. I had enough sexual frustration due to Bella, and her eyeing my manhood wearing nothing but her little pink boy shorts, a tank top and some bunny slippers just wasn't helping my situation if you know what I mean.

Bella was just staring at me, looking all innocent and sexy rolled up into a perfect package, and I really wanted to ask if Alice could leave so I could bend her over my couch and do unspeakable things to her body. However, I'm pretty sure I'd get nut punched by my sister and Bella so I settled for the next best thing: I flirted.

"Like what you see?" Bella's eyes snapped up from where she was blatantly staring and I gave her a little wink.

"Oh get over yourself Cullen it's not like I haven't seen a dick before. Believe me, yours is nothing special." She almost hurt my feelings, but the slight pink blush that crept up on her cheeks gave her away so I know she didn't mean it.

Alice was still standing there with her hand clamped tightly over her eyes mumbling something that sounded like brain bleaching. I quickly wrapped my towel around my waist and turned to go back into my closet. I threw on my favorite pair of dark blue jeans, a black jacket and my chucks. I walked back into my room, and it was empty again so I headed for the kitchen for my morning cup of coffee, praying that Bella was feeling generous enough to make me pancakes.

"Well, ladies, this has been fun but I've got to head over to the club and get things set up for tonight, any chance I can get some chocolate chip pancakes to go B?"

I sat next to Alice at the island in the center of our kitchen and gave Bella the best puppy dog eyes I could manage. It was one trait the Cullen clan has mastered, and not many could deny one of us when we had that face on.

"Sorry, Cullen, but Alice and I have to head into the office so you'll just have to suffer with a cup of coffee and some cold cereal today." Alice and Bella are the owners of a premiere lingerie store in Seattle called Sinful. Bella manages the business and Alice is the designer. That's actually how I met Bella four years ago.

_I had just opened a second night club with my Best Friend Emmett McCarty called The Orchid Lounge__. We had been open for_ _two months and business really couldn't have been better. _

_This club was different from the first one we opened for many reasons__,_ _the most important being that this was purely my baby. I had come up with the concept and_ _design._ _It was my dream,_ _and if it failed that meant I failed,_ _and I had done enough of that to last me a life time. _

_The Orchid Lounge was settled in __downtown_ _Seattle. An old two story building that Em and I had completely renovated to suit our needs. The bottom floor was the night club that had one long bar going around three of the walls, and up behind the bar sat fifteen glass boxes where we had dancers that performed every night. Now this isn't a strip club all of our girls kept their_ _clothes on and we had the rooms lit_ _specially,_ _so that all you could really see was the décor in the room and the silhouette of the dancer. It was one of my favorite parts of the club, and_ _it was sexy without being raunchy. The bottom also held the DJ_ _booth and the dance floor._

_The top floor of the club was the lounge part where we had long bench seats along the wall with tables and another small bar. The part I liked most was that you could look down at everything on the dance floor and enjoy the music without having to be in the mix. This was for our V.I.P. guests and you could only access it with a key card that was only given to our most high end clients._

_I was at the club earlier than normal today because Em __and_ _I had agreed to close the club for the night so that my sister,_ _Alice,_ _could hold a launch party for her new line of Lingerie and the new store she was opening with her partner Bella,_ _whom I had never met. Being the great big brother I was, I promised to over see the setup of the runway along with other minor details Alice needed taken care of._

_I was kneeling behind the bar checking inventory on all the liquor when I heard a beautiful voice start yelling. "What the fuck! What idiot put this runway together__? Don't they know that it's fucking warped in the center?_ _How can models walk down a damn runway that's warped without falling flat on their ass?_ _Who the fuck is running this place?"_

_I put my hands on top of the bar and lifted myself to stand and I was met with __a slim brunette with gorgeous brown eyes, pouty lips and legs for days. She had a fire in her eyes that made my dick instantly hard,_ _and I really just wanted to throw her over my shoulder and take her to my office to show her exactly who was boss. _

_I put on my best Edward Cullen smile__, a smile_ _that has been known to make girls drop their_ _panties without hesitation. " That would be me beautiful. What can I do for you?" I saw something cross her face it almost looked like a mixture of fear and lust but it was gone before I could really tell._

"_Listen,_ _Don Juan,_ _I don't have time for bullshit we have a launch party in five hours so I would really appreciate it if you could please run along and find someone to fix my fucking runway."_

_I wasn't sure if I should feel pissed that this chick had just bitched me out not even knowing who I was__,_ _or completely turned on from hearing the word 'fucking' escape from her beautiful lips. I have to say,_ _the_ _lower part of my anatomy was going with the latter. I wasn't sure if I could get any harder than I was at that moment. Just as I was going to make my come back Alice,_ _aka Tiny Tornado,_ _walked in the doors holding a bunch of boxes that were almost taller than her._

"_Hey Edward can you please come grab some these boxes and put them in your office.....oh hey,_ _Bella._ _I didn't realize you were going to be here this early._ _I thought you had to find another model since Amanda canceled. I see you've met my lovely older brother Edward." Bella whipped her head back and forth between Alice and I with a slight blush on her face._

"_Well fuck me sideways." I really wanted shout hell yeah and take her on my bar, instead I just chuckled and stuck my hand out for her to shake. _

"_Bella is it?_ _I'm Edward Cullen Co-Owner of The Orchid Lounge and big brother to the tiny tornado over there."_

"_Umm....uh yeah hi,_ _Edward, Bella Swan it's nice to finally meet you." As she put her hand in mine,_ _I felt a small spark travel up my arm. It_ _wasn't bad just really unusual._ _"Sorry about my little outburst there, I'm_ _just a little stressed with everything going on for the launch."_

_After Bella and I had been formally introduced I spent the rest of the day doing anything and everything that Alice told me __to. I_ _didn't get to see Bella at all the rest of the time,_ _much to my disappointment. _

_At seven-thirty the show was getting ready to start and we had quite the turn out__. Over_ _a hundred and fifty people showed up for it,_ _including my parents,_ _which wasn't really a surprise as they were always very supportive of Alice. I sat up front with them and watched as models paraded along the runway in the lingerie Alice had created. I have to say that she had a real talent for what she did. There wasn't one piece I didn't like. _

_The host announced the last piece for the evening and when I looked up I was met with the beautiful __sight_ _of Bella Swan walking across the runway. There were no words to describe how she looked in a deep blue number. She_ _just radiated confidence, and_ _as she got to the end of the runway she blew out a little kiss and a wink to the audience and turned to make her way back up the runway to the dressing area. I knew right then and there I had to make Bella Swan mine,_ _and I didn't care what it took. Little did I know that was going to be an up hill battle I wasn't sure I would ever win._

A year later I could call Bella Swan my best friend and roommate, but I was no closer to calling her mine than the first day she called me Don Juan.

**AN2: Love it, Hate it, think I shouldn't quit my day job you can tell me. Either way Thanks for reading!!!**

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. But I do own a dog named AssClown.**

**A/N: Well more than two people are reading this which is a huge fucking surprise because I was positive people were going to tell me I sucked hard core. Thanks everyone who read, alerted and reviewed the first chapter. I truly appreciate it.**

_**Huge thanks goes to my now official beta Lynyrd Lionheart. She is my comma queen and I couldn't do it with out her. Also Thanks to Littlemissinnocence for pre-reading and all her words of encouragement I heart you girly!!**_

**So here's chapter two let me know what you think.**

**Her Ivory Tower**

**Chapter 2**

I had arrived at the club after stopping for Alice's bribe. A pair of very expensive shoes I didn't know the name of, but one of the girls there assured me that Alice didn't own them yet. Shopping for Alice was like shopping for the prince of fucking Wales. The girl had a small condo with one room dedicated entirely to her clothes, shoes and accessories. I just hoped that it would be enough to get me out of trouble.

I sat in the office Emmett and I shared at the bottom of the club, going over sales reports and other mindless paperwork that I really didn't care about. The only thing on my mind was that Bella was finally single again. She had been dating an ass clown named Riley for the last three months. The guy was a fucking waste of space as far as I was concerned. I literally did a happy dance when Bella called to tell me she broke it off with him yesterday afternoon. I finally had a chance to show Bella how I really felt and I wasn't going to lose it like I did the last time.

I was broke out of my thought when I heard my office door slam open and the boisterous voice of my partner fill the room. I looked up to see Emmett's hulking form standing in the doorway. He was built like a fucking brick house which always came in handy running the clubs. Not many people would win a fight against him. Inside he had a heart of pure gold and he was very perceptive even though most wouldn't believe it, with some of the stupid shit that comes out of his mouth. I always tell people his brain to mouth filter was broken because his mom dropped as a baby.

"Yo, Cullen, what are you doing here on a Sunday? I thought you would be nursing a massive hangover after you and Bella Boo demolished two bottles of tequila last night." Emmett's voice boomed loudly through the office. Did I also mention he has no concept of an indoor voice?

"Em, use your inside voice. Remember we talked about this? When you are in a room with just one person there's no need to yell."

"Dude sorry, I can't help it I just have a naturally loud fucking voice," he whisper yelled at me as he sat in his desk across the room.

I couldn't help but chuckle lightly. As long as I'd known Emmett he had only one volume and that was fucking loud. But you couldn't really be mad at the big lug. His happy nature was just contagious.

" You know, Em, if Bella hears you calling her Bella Boo again she's gonna do something worse than gluing your pants to your chair."

For some reason Bella hates the nickname Emmett had given her, it's some kind of inside joke. Anytime he uses it you can see her right eye twitch. She had resorted to playing pranks on him in retaliation. The last time was when we were all out at a local diner. Bella had super glued Emmett's ass to one of the seats. He walked out of the place with nothing but a fucking dish towel hanging in front of his junk. Bella said it was the best fifty bucks she ever spent for a chair. It was one of the reasons I loved her so much. She was a no nonsense kind of girl and she had no problem putting people in their place.

Emmett groaned loudly, "Don't even remind me, I still can't go commando after that prank. I never know when she's gonna strike." Emmett sighed loudly and twirled his chair a couple of times, before asking me the question I knew he was dying to get out since he walked in. "Soooooo Eddie when you gonna grow some balls and finally tell the girl your madly in love with her and you want her to have your babies?"

"I'm workin' on it Em," I muttered lowly, while ruining my hand through my hair. The truth was I had no fucking clue what to do.

He laughed loudly, "Yeah I could tell last night while you where helping her drown her sorrows in tequila." He stopped spinning in his chair and faced me with a serious look on his face. "Look Edward, you know I love Bella, she is one of my best friends, but she's got more issues than you can shake a stick at. I just want you both to be happy and I think that you could be the best thing to ever happen to her. It's just gonna be hard breaking down those walls to get to her."

Emmett wasn't kidding Bella had some deep seeded abandonment issues and a history of failed relationships. Only living with her a year had taught me that there are just some things Bella doesn't do, and one of them is serious relationships. At the first sign that a guy is getting too attached she cuts and runs quicker than you can say 'goodbye'.

" I know, Em. Thanks for the encouragement. Can we just not talk about that right now? I have some things we need to go over and I have that new DJ, Jasper Whitlock, coming in to interview today."

"Sure dude. Just know I'm here if ya gotta talk. Now enough of the pussy shit, let's get to work."

Emmett and I spent the next two hours going over financial reports, marketing ideas and other mundane business details for the clubs. There wasn't anything Emmett and I didn't do together when it came to our business. We both had an equal share and if one wasn't around the other was able to keep the train running. We were a well oiled machine.

"So I hear this Jasper dude is a fucking awesome DJ. A couple of my contacts in Texas said that he's the guy to have," Emmett said while looking over our events for the next week.

Our last DJ, Garrette, moved to Alaska to be with his girlfriend with no notice so Emmett and I had been scrambling to find a replacement quickly. He called in a few favors and found Jasper Whitlock, who was supposed to be a superb fucking DJ.

"I hope so, Em. If not we are screwed, and I'm not talking about the getting your dick wet kinda way."

As we were finishing up some of the details for upcoming events, I heard a timid knock on the door and our manager Angela poked her head in to let us know that Jasper was here.

"Great, Angie, just show him to the booth and we'll be right out," I said with the best smile I could muster. We were seriously screwed if this guy didn't work out and I was more than a little bit nervous.

Emmett stood and popped his knuckles. " Alright, Cullen, let's get out there and see what this guy has got."

As Emmett and I walked onto the floor the beat was already pumping through the speakers. The guy had some serious talent. His performance was practically seamless and I had never really heard anything like it. I immediately had a huge grin on my face. I looked over to see Emmett with the same look and I knew we had a winner. Thank fuck!

_**A/N2: Well I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading! Rec's below all are on my favorites list.**_

_**Oh I also joined twitter to stalk my favorite FF Authors, i'm Rachelle_MyBell if your interested, and I have also created a blog for teasers and extras the link's will be on my profile.**_

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	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I don't own twilight but I sure as hell wish I did.**_

_**Big thanks to Lynyrd Lionheart for her masterful Beta skills, I really made her work on this one, and LittleMissInnocence who pre-reads and tells me my shit don't stink.**_

**ATTENTION: I'm looking for some help creativly on my blog so if you are or know someone that would be willing to help me out please PM meTHANKS!**

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**Her Ivory Tower**

**Chapter 3**

Emmett and I stood at the back of the club while we listened to Jasper mix a couple more songs. I couldn't wait to offer this guy a fucking job. Emmett's contacts weren't lying. He was definitely one talented motherfucker, and I had a feeling with his help we could take The Orchid Lounge to an entirely new level.

"Well, Em, I think we found our new DJ."

He laughed loudly. "Yeah, Eddie, should we go ahead and get a contract signed today?" he asked as Jasper finished up and headed out of the booth. "I would hate for some other club to grab this guy from us."

Before I could answer Jasper was standing in front of us with a lazy smile playing at his lips. I could tell right from the start that we were going to get along. Jasper was six foot medium build with shaggy blonde hair. His whole persona screamed laid back stoner dude. He was wearing Dark faded wash jeans and red shirt that said 'Everything is Bigger in Texas, which I couldn't help but chuckle at.

I stuck out my hand to introduce my self. "I'm Edward Cullen and this is my partner Emmett McCarty," I said pointing my thumb to Emmett next to me. "Thanks for coming out here on such short notice. That was an awesome set you just did"

"Not a problem it's nice to meet y'all," he said in a deep southern twang. "Tyler Crowley said you had a great club out here and were in need of a new DJ. I got nothin' else to do these days so here I am."

I knew Emmett was anxious to get Jasper under contract so that none of our competitors could get a hold of him, so it was no surprise when he spoke up, "Well, Jasper, how 'bout we head back to our office and we can get the details settled?" Emmett led the way back to our office and asked Angie to grab us all a beer while we talked.

It took us all about forty minutes to hammer out the details for Jasper's contract, and the next hour we spent talking about all of our interests. Jasper, not surprisingly, was a typical man. Women, booze and video games were his hobbies, so all three of us were instant friends. Mixing music just came naturally to him and he decided to make a few bucks off his talent while he could. He also was in a band in Texas called Breaking Dawn, but they split last year. Jasper made the move here to be closer to his sister.

"Well, Jasper, it's great to have you on board. Since you are starting next Saturday, feel free to bring in any of your own equipment this week. The booth has a lock on the door so all your stuff will be safe to leave if you'd like," I said shaking his hand again. "You can contact Angie. She's our manager, so she can get you keys and anything else you might need. You can also call Em or I."

He nodded his head "Yeah I might do that. I'll let y'all know. Thanks for the beer and I'll be seeing ya soon." With that Emmett showed Jasper out so he could head over to a new location we were looking at opening up.

The first thought that popped in to my mind when they left the office was Bella. Now that she and Riley were over I had to take a chance and show Bella exactly how I felt about her. That would be easier said than done.

Bella was skittish at best when it came to relationships, and even though she and the douche had been dating for a while, I wouldn't exactly call it a relationship. You could tell there were no feelings really involved, at least not on Bella's part. She held everyone at arms length, including her closest friends. I wasn't expecting it to be an easy endeavour, but I knew it would be worth it in the end.

I knew Bella would probably still be at the store, so I decided to send her one of my usual text messages. She'd either think it was a joke, or take me up on the offer. Either way, I'd get to talk with her which was always a win for me.

**B- Just hired new DJ. Wanna get naked and celebrate?? -EC**

**E- Very funny spanky! Glad you found a DJ, but I'm stuck in the office tonight.** **Alice had a major meltdown over new line so I'm stuck putting out the fire. Rain check?- BS**

I couldn't help it when my mind immediately went to last years Halloween collection for Sinful. They had one costume that was just absurd and in no way constituted as a fireman suit, but could make any mans dick hard in two seconds flat. So of course I couldn't help the next question that came to mind.

**B- Are you wearing that Fireman outfit from last year?** **Cause that would be fucking hot B.** **Anything for you sweet-cheeks let me know when you'll be home and I'll order Thai for dinner. - EC**

**E- Is your mind always in the gutter you perv? Thai sounds great! I'll talk to you later. - BS**

I was pretty sure her last question was rhetorical so I didn't bother answering. I spent the next few hours rearranging schedules and checking e-mails. When I finally noticed it was almost eight I decided to head home. I could always use a good workout before Bella got back. I figured I would order and end up watching some girly as fuck movie like 'The Holiday' with Bella, like we usually did on Sundays. The only reason I agreed to that shit was because Cameron Diaz is smoking hot. Not because I'm pussy whipped.

Besides it would take being inside a pussy to be whipped by it and I, Edward Cullen, was living on self love at the moment. My dick was none to happy with me. It's not that I couldn't find some girl who would be interested in a quick fuck. There were plenty of women I could pick up at the bar. I just wasn't interested in the random hook-up anymore. Plus I learned my lesson after my last encounter with Jessica Stanley. Let's just say she was all teeth and that it had scared me off of random bar flies for awhile.

I finished my workout by ten-thirty and I hadn't heard from Bella yet, so I decided to order dinner and take a quick shower. As I walked out of our gym room I noticed the faint smell of curry. Bella must have arrived and brought the food with her. I decided to forget the shower and headed to the Kitchen. I was starving, so I could stand being sweaty for a little while longer. As I walked into the kitchen Bella had her back to me. She was wearing these tight black jeans and a white top with Red boots that made her legs look like they went on for days. I slowly snuck up behind her and, just as I was going to wrap my arms around her waist, she twirled around sending pad Thai noodles all over herself, me and the kitchen.

"Holy fuck, Cullen," she shrieked and put her hand over her heart. "You scared the ever loving piss out of me. Jeez."

I couldn't help but laugh. She had Pad Thai hanging from her brown curls and she looked utterly adorable with her rosy cheeks. I slowly moved my hand to run my thumb across her cheekbone and then to her hair where the noodles was lying just barely skimming my fingers over her neck. Bella let out a small shiver.

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you," I said as I plucked the noodle from her hair and popped in my mouth. "Thanks for bringing dinner home, but what are we going to do now that you decided to empty it all onto the kitchen floor?"

She huffed. "Well it wouldn't be on the floor if you didn't try and scare me to death. You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that, Spanky. You never know when they might shank you. Plus I got three orders so we have enough."

I could tell something else was going on, she looked more shaken than necessary for me walking up and scaring her.

"What's wrong, Bella?" I asked as I brushed her hair behind her ear. Bella's a poor liar and you could always tell by the tinge of pink that the top of her ears when she did. "You're not usually so jumpy."

"Oh it's nothing, just a little tired. It was a long day... plus I was fighting quite the hang over after our night with Jose." She had swept my hand away and turned around before answering. "Do you mind if I jump in the shower and change before dinner and the movie?"

"As long as you're sure. You know you can tell me anything, Bella, right?" She just nodded and gave me a tight smile. "Alright then I was going to shower too, so I'll meet you on the sofa in fifteen?"

She just smiled and headed for her bedroom. Something was definitely fishy, but you couldn't make Bella talk about something she didn't want too. She was fiercely independent, so pushing her only made her angry and I've learned you don't poke an angry bear with a stick, so I'd just have to wait until she came to me.

I headed to my bathroom after picking up the kitchen. I knew I wouldn't have time for anything but a quick scrub so I made sure the water was cold and cleaned myself off as quickly as possible. By the time I was dressed in my comfortable sleep pants and t shirt Bella was already laying on the sofa with our dinner set out on the coffee table with the movie "Just Friends" up on the TV screen.

I groaned. "Seriously Bella, do we have to watch this movie again? You have some sick fascination with Ryan Reynolds."

She grinned "Forgiveness, is more than saying sorry. Forgiveness, is accepting peoples flaws...." I immediately threw a sofa pillow at her to make her stop singing that song. For some reason she found "Just Friends" to be a hysterical movie and I could never tell her no, so here I was watching the craptastic movie for the hundredth time.

"Ow, Spanky, watch my pretty face." She plopped her feet in my lap. Thank god I stopped her from singing the next line of that song. Listening to her sing about having make up sex until the end of time would have put us in a very uncomfortable position.

"So sorry, how was your day?" I asked while taking her foot and starting to massage from the balls of her feet to her toes. I'm not much of a foot guy but she had these small Barbie feet that I just wanted to nibble on.

"Mmmm...it was horrible. You know how Alice get's when she is designing a new line she's so fucking edgy. She had a breakdown over colored pencils among other things. I swear the girl needs to get laid, it might help her relax a little."

I shuddered at the though of my sister having sex and immediately choked on the sip of beer I just took. "Ugh that's my sister you're talking about." She just giggled and patted my stomach with her other foot telling me to continue with the massage.

We spent the rest of the night eating and watching a couple of more movies. By two she was passed out, so I carried her to her bedroom. As I was covering Bella with a blanket a sigh escaped her lips, and I could have sworn she said Edward.

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_**Hope you enjoyed! Thanks again too everyone who read's, review's and alert's! As always all rec's are in my favorites and if you have any recommendations i'm always looking for something new to read.**_

_**Outfits for Bella & Jasper are on the blog.**_

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	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or it's characters that would be Stephanie Meyer. However the words posted here are my own, and they may not win me a Pulitzer, they are mine none the less. If you steal them I will find you and round house kick you in the face so just don't do it.**_

_**Hello! Is any one still out there reading this? I know it's been a little while since the last chapter and I have a couple of really good excuses and then a few not so good ones. But I won't bother with the details and just let you get to it.**_

_**Love to my Beta queen Lynyrd Lionheart who is a super busy woman but still managed to edit this quickly for me and my pre-reader LittleMissInnocence who bribed me to finish this by promising me cookies.**_

_**Special thanks to a few awesome ladies who encourage and motivate me on a daily basis to keep going with this, you know who you are & your support means more to me than you'll ever know.**_

**Her Ivory Tower**

**Chapter 4**

I woke up the next morning feeling a million times better than yesterday. There's something about the day after a hangover, when you wake up feeling alert and not wanting to run to the bathroom to puke, that makes you contemplate giving up drinking altogether. Well, not really, but you know what I'm getting at.

I rolled out of bed and walked to my bathroom while checking my phone for messages. Nothing too exciting, just one from Emmett telling me we had a problem with our liquor order and that I needed to call the distributor, and then a text from Alice.

**Meet me at Cafe Umbria 10am. Don't be late or I'll beat you with my new shoes. -A**

Alice was always to the point, and I wouldn't put it past her to try and take me out with her size seven heel. I sent a quick text back letting her know she could keep her Prada's on and I would be there.

I threw on a pair of dark jeans and a red, faded Lucky clover shirt. Looking in mirror I noticed I was looking a little scruffy but decided to forgo a shave. I could go another day without it since I didn't have any important meetings today. Plus, I know how some women like a guy with a little stubble. Makes them think about your face between their legs or so I've heard.

XXXXX

When I arrived at the café Alice was already seated with a coffee in hand and one already on the table. It was obvious that she didn't want anything to interrupt whatever she wanted to talk to me about.

I smiled as she stood up to hug me, my 6'2 frame dwarfing her petite 5'3. She was wearing a bright yellow top that you couldn't miss even if you wanted to with a pair of cropped jeans and a pair of funky heels that tied up at the front like tennis shoes, but were missing part of the back. The spiked heel was the same yellow as her top. Alice always had a different flare for fashion growing up.

"Hey tiny," I said as I took my seat. "How's the new line coming along? Bella said you had some issues yesterday?"

She waved me off taking a sip of her drink. "Oh, its fine. Just a little mishap with some colored pencils and some fabric swatches. Bella always exaggerates." I knew for a fact how temperamental Alice could be when she was designing, as I once had a sketch book thrown at my head just for interrupting while she was in the 'zone,' but I wasn't about get into that argument again, so I went the safe standby of smile and nod.

"Anyways, that's not why I asked you to meet me here Edward, and you know it."

"Okay, but I'm not exactly sure what it is, so why don't you just spill it?" I said with an exasperated sigh. I knew by the look on her face that I didn't want any part of whatever it was she was about to say.

"Well, before you say anything to interrupt me or say no, just let me explain." I nodded as she took a large gulp of air. Not a good sign. "I want to throw a birthday party for Bella-"

I immediately threw up my hands shaking my head furiously. "Uh uh. No way Alice. Do you remember what happened the last two years you have tried to throw a party for Bella?" It's not so much that Bella hates birthdays, she just hates celebrating hers. She has made it well known that presents of the expensive variety are always welcome, but parties are not. Last year's party thrown by Alice ended up with a server thrown head first into a fountain and cake all over the place.

"Yes Edwierdo, I remember. But this year is different, if you could please let me explain," she huffed.

I just rolled my eyes because I knew she would just pester me until I heard her out, so there was really no point in arguing. "Sure thing, Tiny. I'm pretty sure my answer will still be the same, but by all means please continue."

"Thank you. As I was saying, I want to throw Bella a birthday party this year, but I want to incorporate it with the new lingerie launch for Sinful. Bella and I talked about doing a Masquerade Ball theme and maybe holding it at The Orchid Lounge"—She took another deep breath—"I have a few weeks to get the designs finished and the pieces manufactured. I could have everything ready just in time for Bella's birthday then she can't complain when we throw the party."

I thought for a moment. It wasn't a _terrible_ idea. Bella hated celebrating her birthday, so using the launch as a diversion would probably work well enough. Not to mention what a great event it would be for the club. Still, I was sceptical.

"I don't know Alice. I think the launch idea is great, and we know The Orchid would be fine to host the event, I just think throwing Bella's birthday into it would be a bad idea."

"It'll be fine Edward she'll be so busy with the launch that she won't even notice the details for her birthday. I promise I'll take care of everything." She immediately brought out the Alice Cullen give-me-what-I-want-cause-I'm-cute-and-I'll-shank-you-if-you-don't stare and there was no way I could say no.

"Sure Alice, whatever you want to do is fine by me," I said with a sigh.

"Oh don't act like that, plus this will give you a great opportunity to make your move on Bella," she giggled when my mouth fell open. "Oh please big brother like it's a surprise that I would know you have a thing for Bella. It's fairly obvious to anyone who knows you well enough. Well, except for Bella. That girl is clueless."

I took a long drink of my coffee, enjoying the burn against my throat while contemplating what Alice said. I didn't think that my feelings for Bella were that obvious. Sure, Bella and I are close, which is expected since we are roommates and we spend a good majority of time together, but I never thought that it would be glaringly obvious to anyone who wasn't me. I guess I wasn't as good at hiding my feelings as I thought. I wasn't sure how I felt about this. Was Alice the only one who noticed? She was always kind of intuitive, knowing things before they seemed to happen or what people are feeling before even they do sometimes. But did anyone else notice? And if so, why didn't Bella?

Alice's voice broke through my thoughts before I could really think more on it. "Don't even go there Edward. You know that whatever it is you are thinking has more to do with Bella than anything else. She just doesn't...notice or choose to notice things of importance like that. Well you know..." She waves her hand in front of her like she is swatting a fly, "With the whole Jake situation it's just easier for her to ignore the important details like her best friend being in love with her."

Jacob Black was one subject I was not interested in talking about so I just decided to change the subject altogether. "Did Bella tell you we found a new DJ for the club?"

Alice just raised a questioning eyebrow but let the Bella/Jacob subject go. "Oh yeah. she said you mentioned a party at The Orchid Saturday to introduce him. What's his name? I don't think Bella mentioned it." She finished taking a drink of her coffee.

"Yeah, he is honestly one of the best I can't believe Em and I were able snag him. His name is Jasper Whitlock and..." I was just about to explain to Alice how great it was going to be for the club when she choked, and spit coffee all over the table. "Whoa, Tiny, you okay there?"

"Gah, yeah sorry Edward it was hot just caught me by surprise is all." She cleared her throat and started wiping the table off.

"Okay if you're sure." She nodded, so I decided to continue. "Anyway like I said he is one of the best DJ's out there, and we think he is going to pull in quite the crowd to the club, so we want to throw a huge party Saturday as kind of a welcome."

"Wow that's great Edward. I'm sure it'll be great!" she smiled but it looked sort of forced. "So um...the other reason I wanted to talk to you is Grandfather was not happy that you missed brunch on Sunday and wanted me to make sure that I quote: 'Get your sorry ass to brunch on time' this week."

I couldn't help but role my eyes, I knew I would be hearing something about my absence from brunch so I wasn't to surprised.

Alice ignored my eye roll. She was used to being the middle women between certain family members and myself.

"Not to mention a certain someone missed you on Sunday. You don't get to spend nearly enough time with her and she really looks forward to seeing you on Sundays. Could you please just try and show up and be happy."

"Oh now you are just trying to guilt trip me. Not cool, Tiny. Not cool at all," I laughed. "Yeah, I'll be there on Sunday, and I will even be on time. I might even talk Bella into going. You know Grandfather can't resist her charm."

"Yeah, well you do that. Listen I hate to cut our coffee date short but I have to get to the office to work on some sketches. I'll call you later, okay?" Alice stood and threw her empty cup into the waste bin.

"Of course, Tiny, have a good day and I'll talk to you later." I whispered 'I love you' as I gave her a hug goodbye and then she was gone. I ordered two more coffees, and then headed over to the club to get some work done.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I have the next two chapters some what outlined, so the next update should be sooner rather than later. Thank you to every one of you who reads, alerts and reviews! Especially the regulars your feedback is incredibly helpful thank you!**

_**As always all rec's are in my favorites and clothes for this chapter are posted on the blog.**_

**Through the Flames by Tampagirl81**

**Fuggiasco by kdc2239**

**Tangled Up In Blue by TxBirdie**


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